As Always
by Red River
Summary: Some things change. Some things don't. A moment of reflection for the Frontier group, six years after their adventure came to an end. Kouji x Takuya, light .


Summary: Some things change. Some things don't. A moment for Takuya and Kouji, six years after their adventure came to an end.

Warnings: None.

Pairing: Kouji x Takuya (light).

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The sky had begun to peel. Along the western edge of the world, the bristling ember of the descending sun was hovering along the roofs of the surrounding neighborhood, every shingle turning golden under its touch. At the zenith, pale yellow had started to mix with summer's bright blue sky, the color leeching away to make room for the stars that were just beginning to threaten in the east, hanging like lanterns from the telephone wires.

Daylight still lay heavy on the world below, softening the image of the rustling trees and abandoned playground at the center of the expansive park. But the drowsy afternoon could do nothing to silence the excited shouts coming from an open field beyond the sandbox, six voices soaring back and forth on a steady stream of laughter.

"Tomoki, go left!"

"I am left!"

"Other left!"

Takuya lobbed the soccer ball hard to the wing, and Tomoki leapt for it, the fourteen-year-old barely managing to keep himself in bounds. But it was a lost effort as the ball glanced off of his foot and into the control of another boy, who sent them each a smirk before he took off in the opposite direction.

"Nice pass, Takuya."

"Shut it, Kouji!"

There was another voice in the mix now, higher and more excited, as Izumi jumped up and down at one end of the field, her pretty teenage features split in a childish grin.

"Come on, Kouji! You can do it! One more and we win!"

"Like I'm gonna let that happen!"

Takuya charged for the advancing player, and Kouji slowed in his approach, keeping the ball close as the determined boy rushed him. They came to a standstill at center field, Kouji switching the ball easily from foot to foot, Takuya leaning into him to break his guard.

"That's the way, Takuya!"

"Don't let him have it, Kouji!"

As always, the game had started with six. As always, it had come down to two.

"Quit bouncing it around and let's go already!" Takuya growled, kicking at the black and white ball just out of reach. Kouji scoffed.

"Don't whine because you're too slow to keep up," he returned, pressing the other boy back with his shoulder.

A burst of footsteps and a familiar voice broke their stalemate.

"Kouji!"

Kouji turned a full circle and fired right, trusting his instincts to drop the ball at his twin's feet. In an instant, Takuya was after it, but Kouichi was far beyond him already, rushing for the two hats that marked their makeshift goal. Junpei backed nervously away from the advancing teen, torn between attack and defense—and in the end he had no choice to make, as the ball slid through his legs and in between the markers.

"Woohoo!" Izumi's voice, as the girl's ponytail bounced over her cheerful shoulders. "We did it! Victory twice in one week, thank you very much!"

Junpei's hands slid down his face, muffling the young man's admission of shame. "Can't believe I'm still falling for that…" he groaned, too preoccupied to catch the smile Kouichi shot him. Kouji jogged forward to meet his brother halfway, exchanging high fives as the boy behind him tried to rally his teammates.

"Hey, it's not over yet, Junpei! They're just one goal up." Takuya raised his fist, sending the older boy a determined smile. "We can still win this thing! We're not giving up now!"

In the end, there were some things that even six years couldn't change.

Junpei scratched the back of his head, glancing at his watch as a sheepish expression came over his face. "Easy for you to say. I've got to get going, actually. Some of us have to study for entrance exams, you know."

Takuya threw his hands up, joining the circle his friends had formed at one end of the field. "You've got like half a year, Junpei! What's the point of studying now?"

"I've got homework, too," Tomoki added in support, rocking back and forth on his heels. "The exams for high school aren't easy either. Mom's getting nervous about those already."

Takuya made a face, scrunching up his nose in protest. "Aw, come on, you two…"

Izumi smiled at him, scooping up her hat from its position as temporary goal post. "Make that four. Sorry, Takuya, but Kouichi and I have cram class, too. I didn't realize it'd gotten so late."

Takuya gave a little moan of disapproval, but the girl ignored him and turned instead to Kouichi, who was also retrieving his pilfered baseball cap and fixing it over windblown hair.

"Do you have all your books, or should we stop by your house first?" Izumi asked the older twin.

Kouichi smiled, tipping his head toward the cluster of book bags waiting for them on the sidelines. "Don't worry—I think I've got it all this time," he answered, dark eyes bright with the dying sun. "I double-checked this morning, so we wouldn't have a panic like last week."

"I'll walk you to class," Kouji offered, tightening the band of his disordered ponytail as the four turned to head off the field. But Takuya grabbed his wrist before he could follow them, pulling the taller boy's eyes back to his as the group paused in their departure.

"No way, Kouji—you've gotta stay. I'm not ending this one down." Takuya squared his shoulders, jerking a thumb at the forlorn soccer ball lying behind them. "Let's go one on one for a while. How 'bout it?"

A knot of creases appeared on Kouji's brow, darkening the boy's expression until his brother laughed. "Why don't you stay?" Kouichi suggested, earning his twin's undecided gaze. "It looks like Takuya's not ready to quit just yet. And you don't have anything to do right now anyway."

Kouji sent him a slight glare, and Takuya's smile perked up, the prospect of a rematch lighting his eyes more strongly than the descending sun. Izumi giggled into one lithe hand and slung an elbow through Kouichi's, patting the older twin on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, Kouji. I promise I'll look after him all six blocks to the school."

Kouji's glare was sharper now, but it was disrupted by the tugging on his arm, which had intensified with Takuya's grin. The boy's eyes were deep with the colors of the horizon, bright as fire in the flaring light.

"Come on, Kouji. Stick around for a while. Unless you're afraid you're gonna lose."

The taunt got Kouji's attention at last, bringing the younger twin's gaze around to his best friend again. "Lose to you?" he challenged, his smirk visibly tripling the excitement on Takuya's face. "Don't make me laugh, Kanbara."

"Let's see who's laughing when I score first!"

And with that, the two were off, Takuya sprinting toward the abandoned ball with Kouji close on his heels. Those left behind blinked for a moment before Junpei shook his head, good-natured even as both arms settled over his chest.

"Well, goodbye to you, too," he grumbled, smiling in spite of himself. "Don't know what you'll do without us."

"Oh, let them be," Izumi said, her tone just on the edge of a giggle. "It's not like they can help themselves."

With a shared smile, the four headed for their backpacks, sorting through the scramble of their possessions as shouts and laughter filled the air behind them. Kouichi slung his bag onto his shoulder and turned back to watch the game, waiting as Izumi swapped her tennis shoes.

"You know, they don't have a goal anymore," Kouichi mused, one hand adjusting the brim of his cap.

All eyes returned to the field, watching with the slanted sunbeams as Takuya turned his back on his opponent, keeping the ball out of range of Kouji's close guard. But Kouji was taller now, and stronger as well—strong enough to wrap his arms around Takuya's waist and haul the squawking boy away from the ball, turning them entirely the other direction.

"Hey!" Takuya shouted, legs kicking monstrously in his partner's hold. "That's totally a foul!"

Kouji's smirk had become a full smile, and it widened yet further as he dropped Takuya on the far side of his circle and took off at full speed, the ball between his feet. "And that tackle you pulled before was completely legal," he shot over one shoulder.

"That was different!"

Takuya was after him again, his face flushed from his all-out sprint and the sunset light all around them. When he was close enough, he took a flying leap at Kouji's back and locked both arms around his neck, pulling himself into a piggyback position.

"Gotcha!"

For a moment, the pair looked as though they were about to topple over—then Kouji regained his balance and pushed on toward the place where their goal had been, albeit at a considerably lessened speed. And both boys were laughing, Takuya's voice overriding Kouji's lower chuckles in a series of playful shouts as the taller teen spun in circles to dislodge him.

"You're coming off, Kanbara."

"Not on your life!"

Izumi finished with her shoes and stood up, brushing clumps of dirt from her jeans. "Yeah, they don't have a goal," she agreed, shouldering her bag with a simple swing. "But it looks like it doesn't matter."

Takuya was down again, racing up the field with the ball dancing wildly in front of him, and Kouji was right at his side, ponytail streaming behind him like a tattered flag. Junpei sighed and took a half-step toward the sidewalk, a funny grin on his amiable face.

"You remember when they used to fight all the time?" he asked.

"And when Takuya always had to be in front?" Tomoki added.

"And when Kouji didn't like to be touched?" Izumi finished.

Kouichi glanced over his shoulder at the pair, watching with his friends as the summer day was conquered by laughter and long shadows on the unkempt soccer field. Then he turned for the sidewalk and the neighborhood beyond, the others falling into his easy stroll.

"Well, come on," Kouichi sighed, smiling at the setting sun. "Let's give them some privacy."

He knew, without having to check, that there were three identical smiles following along behind him.

The patches of shadow on the ground began to meld together, and soon any trace of blue was gone from the sky, a curtain of crimson fading to indigo in the east. The streetlamps started to flicker, still unneeded in the thick red light, each one shimmering almost too white against the watercolor backdrop.

The shadows of the boys on the soccer field grew longer and wider, until at last they were just one shadow, breathing with the shouts and laughter of their companion forms. Then there was a cheer and an accompanying fist struck the air, and all motion stopped, charmed by the still world as the last rim of the sun disappeared.

Takuya bent over to rest both hands on his knees, panting through his tremendous smile.

"Gotcha," the boy rasped, his face glowing with triumph and exertion. A short distance away, Kouji shook his head, adopting a similar position.

"Next time," he managed, "you're mine."

Takuya grinned, watching his opponent with tired brown eyes. Then the boy flopped down onto his back, arms and legs spread away from him on the long-dead grass.

"You wish."

Kouji waited to catch his breath before moving to Takuya's side, and he lay back onto the ground with far more control, both arms folded behind his head for a cushion. Takuya sighed and let his eyes fall closed, and Kouji watched him through the quiet light, studying the happy, dirty face of the boy beside him and the hair plastered to his forehead.

They lay that way until the sky had slid from red to violet above them, the stars spreading silently up the darker bands of sky to the east. Then Kouji stood and extended a hand to his unmoving companion, his smile barely visible in the gathering twilight.

"Let's go, Takuya. They'll be waiting for you."

Takuya cracked one eye open, then the other, and his face regained its unfaltering grin one more, warm as his hand in Kouji's as the taller boy pulled him to his feet.

"Yeah, yeah…"

The two walked side by side across the shadowed grass, aiming for the line of streetlights that led up the silent neighborhood street. Takuya kicked a rock and it stumbled into the street, the only background to his voice under a muted sky.

"Hey, Kouji?"

"Hm?"

"You want to stay for dinner?"

"…Yeah."

It was a long time before their hands fell apart.


End file.
